|
|
|
|
|
|
2003 Baseball
TITANS ’02: Blossomed into of the top starting pitchers in the country after a forgettable freshman campaign • Was 9-4 with a 2.40 ERA that paced the Big West Conference and was sixth in the nation for pitchers with 100-plus innings • Was the only Titan to garner All-American recognition, earning a third-team bid from Baseball America • Could have – should have? – reached double figures in wins: four times, he pitched 7.0-plus innings and allowed two or fewer earned runs, but was tagged with a no-decision or loss • After giving up a homer in the first inning of the season, he went 64-plus innings before allowing another one • Was two outs away from beating Stanford and Jeremy Guthrie in the NCAA Regional opener, but he allowed a game-tying single (the Cardinal won in 13 innings) • Had a 1.75 ERA heading into the last weekend of the regular season, but was victimized for 10 runs on 14 hits in a pair of outings at Long Beach State (including his first relief appearance of the season) • That was a reversal from his first time out against Long Beach on Mar. 22, when he shut out the 49ers on just five hits to earn his first of two Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week awards • His other came for his Apr. 5 win over Sacramento State, when he pitched into the ninth (allowing just one run) and did not allow a ball out of the infield from the fourth through eighth innings • Pitched eight shutout innings at USC on May 15, but did not have a decision (the Titans won in 11 innings) • Matched up with Cal State Northridge’s Bill Murphy in a fantastic pitcher’s duel on Apr. 26, though he gave up a two-run homer in the first inning and lost, 2-1, despite striking out a career-high 10 batters • Faced just three batters in five of his seven innings of work vs. ASU on Feb. 22, allowing only an unearned run in the fourth in a 3-2 win • Struck out eight and walked none in eight innings vs. UNLV on Feb. 17, while recording 22 of his 24 outs by way of groundout or strikeout • Againt Fresno State on Feb. 8, he came up one out shy of a complete game shutout, needing an assist from closer Chad Cordero • Faced the minimum number of batters through five (allowing only a bunt single in that span) • Overall, he allowed six hits (all singles) and did not walk a batter until there were two outs in the ninth • Took the loss in the season opener in Stanford, though he was perhaps a pitch away from a better fate...after appearing to be out of a jam in the first, Littleton allowed a two-out, two-strike three-run homer to Carlos Quentin that proved to be the difference in a 7-4 loss. TITANS ’01: Appeared in 16 games – four as a starter – and posted a 2-0 record and 7.68 ERA • Picked up wins against Long Beach State (March 23) and Arizona State (April 9) • Best outing came against Long Beach State in the Kia Baseball Bash on March 4, when he pitched three no-hit innings, striking out four and walking just one • His strikeout ratio of 8.67 per nine innings was third on the team (behind All-Americans Kirk Saarloos and Chad Cordero) • Fanned a season-high five batters vs. LMU on Feb. 14 • Struck out at least one batter in 14 of 16 appearances • His worst outing came in an April 18 start against UCLA, when he allowed nine hits and six runs in 3.1 innings, though he was taken off the hook when the Titans rallied from a 9-1 deficit and won in 14 innings • Allowed just two home runs (just one over his final 14 outings) • Second on the team in hit batters (eight) and wild pitches (nine). VISTA H.S.: Earned three varsity letters for Coach Rick Lepire at Vista H.S. in Vista, Calif. • Was a first-team All-Palomar League, second-team All-North San Diego County and second-team All-CIF pick his senior season • Posted a 9-5 record with a 3.54 ERA and fanned 105 batters in 89 innings of work • Also batted .448 with two home runs and 20 RBI • Was his team’s co-MVP with Shaun Boyd (selected 13th overall in the 2000 draft) • Played in the California All-Star game • Struck out 15 batters in a semifinal of the Wienerschnitzel Tournament in Irvine • Allowed just three hits, but lost, 1-0, to Rancho Bernardo H.S. in the CIF championship game when Cal State Fullerton recruit David Giorgis hit a first-inning solo homer • Posted a 4-4 record, 2.64 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 69 innings as a junior, good enough for first-team all-league recognition • Pitched just four innings his sophomore season, when Vista posted a 26-7 record and reached the CIF semifinals. PERSONAL: Born on September 2, 1982, in Hayward, Calif. • Parents are Ed and La Littleton • Has a younger sister (Tasia) • Majoring in computer science • Selected by Montreal in the seventh round of the 2000 MLB draft • Also considered attending Brigham Young, UCLA, LMU and Arizona, but chose Fullerton because he has wanted to be a Titan since he was 12 years old • Lists his biggest sports thrill as playing for Team USA • Would have liked to meet Jackie Robinson • Claims to be a Tiger Woods look-a-like • Strangest summer job was working at Legoland • Favorites...Oakland A’s (team), Chipper Jones (player), Denzel Washington (actor), Braveheart (movie).
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
